US 'hair archaeologist' recreates ancient coiffs

Published: on March 13, 2013

By day, Janet Stephens is a hairstylist in a modern salon. But by night, she's part archaeologist, part hairdresser, meticulously recreating hairdos from the age of antiquity. 00:01:35 PRWINT CodeNameMMV497912_TEN FileNameMMV497912_TEN- Janet Stephens (woman), hairdresserSCRIPT: This is a look straight out of history books. Hairdresser Janet Stephens recreates ancient Greek and Roman hairdos -- styles so elaborate scholars believed they could only be wigs. SOUNDBITE 1 Janet Stephens (woman), hairdresser (English, 15 sec): "Nobody had an answer for how they were technically constructed. // Well, I was naive enough to think that if I'm looking at it and it works mechanically and I can make it function on real hair, that's gotta be a real hairstyle, it can't be an invention." So 13 years ago, Janet set out on a quest to prove her theory. She began by using standard hairpins -- but quickly realized they couldn't hold the looks together. After years of research and practice, she finally had a breakthrough. SOUNDBITE 2 Janet Stephens (woman), hairdresser (English, 11 sec): "I had a leap of intuition as I was sweating in my basement over this hairstyle: I realized that if I sowed it together with a needle and thread, it worked. And then all of a sudden I could make all of them." Since then, Janet has become an expert on ancient coiff's such as this one, originally worn by Faustina the Younger, a 2nd century Roman Empress. Janet has even published her findings in an academic journal, and some now call her a 'hair archaeologist.' SOUNDBITE 3 Janet Stephens (woman), hairdresser (English, 12 sec): "I want people to know how these things were created because I've never met anyone who saw an ancient Roman hairstyle on a statue who didn't ask the question 'how did they do that?'" These ancient styles may not yet sell in a modern salon, but Janet is perfecting her skill at home, recreating hairdos fit for a queen. ------------ SHOTLIST: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, FEBRUARY 25, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV - pan from 'model' to Janet as she recreates Faustina the Younger's hairstyle - CU of Janet's hands - CU of Janet SOUNDBITE 1 - VAR of hair being braided (note: partially covers SOT 1) - tilt up of Janet in her dining room flipping through history books - shot of the tools used for the hairstyles - pan from history book to Janet SOUNDBITE 2 - VAR of hair being sewn (note: partially covers SOT 2) - VAR of the final result SCREEN RECORDING, SOURCE: JOURNAL OF ROMAN ARCHAEOLOGY **NO RESALE for non-editorial purposes** - screen recording of the online version of Janet's paper, "Ancient Roman hairdressing: on (hair) pins and needles" BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, FEBRUARY 25, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV - cutaway of Janet SOUNDBITE 3 - VAR of Janet flipping through history books (note: partially covers SOT 3) - VAR of Janet recreating a tutulus hairstyle, from ca. 40 BC